German Chancellor Angela Merkel today rejected the United Kingdom's hopes to negotiate the terms of its exit from the European Union while simultaneously discussing its future trading relationship with the bloc, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Theresa May, per the AFP.

"The negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our interlinked relationship...and only when this question is dealt with, can we — hopefully soon after — begin talking about our future relationship," Merkel said.

The spokesman for the German foreign ministry branded uncertainty surrounding Brexit as "poison for the people" and asked if the U.K. "really understood what kind of impact there could be for the British economy" given the "damn tight" window of two years to negotiate a Brexit deal.